What Are the Top eCommerce Development Trends for 2022 and Beyond?

What Are the Top eCommerce Development Trends for 2022 and Beyond?
The proliferation of the internet worldwide led to a surge in online activities. Online shopping has also skyrocketed in recent times, especially with the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, many companies are encouraged to go online with stellar eCommerce websites.
If you are in the same position and want to build an eCommerce website, then you should create it with the latest trends and features to get an edge. At a year’s ending, discussions around new eCommerce trends become hot topics in the business community.
The debates around the top eCommerce development trends have taken center stage as 2022 is approaching. Are you also curious to know the top eCommerce web development trends for 2022 and beyond?
So, let’s find out the trends that will rule in 2022 and beyond in eCommerce development.
AR/VR Technologies
Today, buyers don’t want to see just the images of a product; they want to feel it and check its usability. Undoubtedly, AR/VR are the right technologies to make buyers comfortable with their purchases. Indeed, augmented reality can provide a realistic feel of the products as buyers can test and see them virtually. So, for example, if someone is searching for a couch with the power of AR, they can visualize how it will look at a specific location. They can use their mobile or laptop to visualize the couch’s position in a live video.
Thanks to AR/VR techs, online buyers can determine if a product matches their demands. VR or Virtually Reality takes you to a virtual world where you get a whole new experience. Indeed, shopping becomes more convenient using AR/VR as buyers feel confident about their purchases. With these pieces of technology, you can offer virtual “try on” for products, especially clothing apparel. Buyers can try different products to choose the most suitable for them.
Voice Commerce
While voice-based technologies are still evolving, today, shopping with your voice is no more fiction. Indeed, with the increasing use of smart speakers and voice assistants built into your mobile or laptop, you can now purchase products using voice commands. This trend may deliver greater ROI for your business in the coming years. Hence, if you want to develop an eCommerce store, incorporating voice commerce in your eCommerce development strategy is crucial for better competency.
Voice-enabled devices are becoming popular, and sooner or later, voice search will emerge as a leading method to find information and even shopping. You can incentivize this eCommerce web development trend by adopting it earlier. Though there are different solutions for varied eCommerce platforms, Shopify provides an edge in voice commerce with many apps that interact with voice-enabled devices. Hence, you can select the Shopify web development service to integrate the functionality.
The following are some ways to incorporate voice commerce:
- Opt for voice search for your online store.
- Optimize your content to make it appear in voice searches.
- Set an easy flow to buy via voice search.
- Add new skills to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
- Offer voice-based navigation to your website.
Social Commerce
Social commerce has defined a new way of purchases and sales. People spend a lot of time on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Businesses can take advantage of these platforms to market and sell their products. And, this is where social commerce comes into the picture. You can incorporate social commerce to increase sales. People can learn about products and follow the links to complete their purchases through social media.
Social commerce will remain a top eCommerce trend in 2022 and beyond. You can take advantage of this eCommerce trend for your business. People have the opportunity to read reviews of others or connect with sellers directly on social media. Social media integration is a fruitful decision that can provide opportunities for your business. You can take advantage of this trend to increase sales and revenue.
AI in eCommerce
Artificial Intelligence needs no introduction, and it is already a prevalent technology in multiple fields. AI is also becoming a significant part of the eCommerce industry, especially for smart product recommendations. Product recommendations can help trigger more purchases. But knowing the right taste and need of the customer can be difficult for an online store owner. Moreover, AI solves this problem by providing data-driven product recommendations. Indeed, artificial intelligence can provide recommendations that match the customers’ needs.
Implementing AI tech in eCommerce has gained momentum, and online stores can derive numerous benefits from using it. Along with machine learning, AI helps predict customers’ shopping habits based on their purchase history and browsing patterns. Hence, it allows eCommerce store owners to offer the right products to customers as per their interests and tastes.
Chatbots
Another significant trend in eCommerce is the evolution of chatbots. Customer service has been an Achilles heel for every business for a long time. No matter how many people are there in a customer care department, they remain occupied, resulting in delayed response to customers’ queries. Nevertheless, chatbots are a great addition to an eCommerce store that helps businesses offer a more timely resolution to customers’ issues. Indeed, this technology is a real boon for online stores as it helps them achieve greater customer satisfaction.
With chatbots, eCommerce websites can instantly communicate with customers and resolve their issues on multiple platforms such as mobiles and desktops. As a handy tool from users’ point of view, chatbots offer a customer-friendly interface that enables them to resolve their queries more conveniently. You can adopt this eCommerce trend for your eCommerce website development project.
Chatbot implementation can add value to your online store and contribute to trust-building. Platforms like PrestaShop, WooCommerce, or Magento have the added advantage of plugins. Therefore, you can choose a suitable plugin to add the required functionality.
But chatbots are advanced tools that you can get with the help of the right eCommerce tech partner. If you want to develop an online store, say on PrestaShop; you should partner with a PrestaShop development service provider to create a custom store with chatbot functionality.
Omnichannel Selling
It is quite a known fact that the number of users on social media platforms will increase. But does it mean that they will disappear from other places? Absolutely not. Hence, omnichannel selling has emerged as another significant eCommerce trend enabling businesses to reach customers on different touchpoints. People have their own way of shopping, and not everyone is at ease buying from a social media platform. Hence, you should try as many platforms to sell your products as available to you.
The trend of omnichannel selling encompasses using different channels to sell your products. It is crucial to be available on multiple channels to reach all customers and sell from all sides. With omnichannel eCommerce, you can expand your reach to numerous fronts and utilize your resources to the fullest.
The shift Towards SaaS Platforms
SaaS eCommerce platforms are growing fastly. It may not seem an apparent eCommerce trend at first, but when you delve into the details, you will find it a crucial change in the eCommerce space. Indeed, many businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, prefer SaaS eCommerce platforms that provide numerous benefits.
If you don’t know, SaaS or Software-as-a-Service eCommerce platforms are centrally hosted on a remote cloud network and licensed on a subscription basis. Further, the provider of the SaaS platform hosts everything on its server, including the website and its data. In short, these are all-inclusive cloud-based platforms, which means they are available with every tool to build and run an eCommerce store. Moreover, Shopify and Shopify Plus are great examples of these platforms.
Unlike traditional CMS-based platforms like Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, etc., SaaS-based platforms are highly user-friendly and easy to use. They are becoming a go-to platform for many businesses for many reasons, including affordability and flexibility. Moreover, conventional CMS-based platforms offer many advantages, but working with them is not easy for non-tech users. For instance, if you want to go for Magento web development, you can approach an eCommerce Web development company to create the right website.
Wrapping up!
Online businesses are flourishing worldwide, making the online space more competitive. You need to build a perfect eCommerce store if you want to stay above the competitors. While you can add the best features, implementing the top eCommerce trends is indeed helpful to stand against the competition. You need to learn about these trends and implement them prudently in your eCommerce development strategy.
Undoubtedly, eCommerce is a dynamic field, and new changes can occur more quickly than you even know about them. Looking for the latest trends and incorporating those trends in your online store can help you remain on top of the competition. Many trends also provide you with an opportunity to make your eCommerce store more customer-friendly.
To create a perfect eCommerce website, you can rely on a reliable eCommerce website development company. A trusted tech partner can help you build the right eCommerce store and implement the latest advancements in the domain.